You may want to wake up early the next day, but sleep often eludes you when you need it the most. However, this report might offer a simple solution to this struggle. The biological clock of every individual affects the fluctuations of body temperature throughout the day and night, and the drop in body temperature usually precedes sleep. A quick, simple trick can create an ideal environment for falling asleep fast. While evidence suggests that wearing socks can lower core body temperature, making you fall asleep faster, women, in particular, have a "lower resting metabolic rate," which affects their sensitivity to cooler sleep environments.
How do socks help with sleep?
Wearing socks helps with peripheral vasodilation, meaning more blood flows to the feet, and thus, as blood flow increases to the feet, the core body temperature begins to drop. Research published in the National Library of Medicine, as reported by "Express," analyzed the effectiveness of bed socks on sleep quality. A research team from Seoul National University recruited six men to study their sleep. Each man participated in two experimental conditions:
1. Wearing socks in bed while sleeping.
2. Not wearing socks in bed while sleeping.
They used a wrist monitor to record sleep quality across various metrics such as sleep efficiency, total sleep time, number of awakenings, wakefulness after sleep onset, average wake time, movement index, and fragmentation index.
Measurements were taken for seven hours while the participants slept in a room with a temperature of 23 degrees Celsius. Heart rates and skin temperatures were recorded, and participants were asked about their opinions on the quality of their sleep. When wearing socks during sleep, participants fell asleep 7.5 minutes faster than when they did not wear socks. Furthermore, the total sleep time for those wearing bed socks lasted 32 minutes longer. Participants wearing socks to sleep experienced "7.5 times fewer" awakenings during the night. Sleep efficiency was "7.6% higher" for those wearing socks while sleeping.
Thus, the researchers concluded that wearing socks while sleeping "has positive effects on sleep quality." However, individuals with circulation issues or swollen feet are advised not to wear socks while sleeping.
